Magical Dinosaurs
by IHateCheddar
Summary: Harry gets to meet a really big snake, oneshot


The Dursley's weren't pleased at all.

No, how could they be? After all Petunia did; entering all those raffles, entering all those codes into the computer, sitting by the radio, phone in hand, for hours trying to answer questionnaires. Just in the hope her Duddy would be able to see a real live dinosaur.

Staring down at the wretched, horrible, nauseatingly still there fourth ticket that's all but doomed their trip, Petunia thinned her lip as she contemplated if anyone working at the park would notice her nephews absence. They could just say he was sick, couldn't they?

But no, Petunia couldn't get her way that easily, could she?

Vernon had already said it, the rotten boy was going. They couldn't risk his ungrateful hide telling anyone he hadn't really been sick, what would the neighbors think?

So she resigned herself to it, ignoring the brat as he brought out a quill of all things and wrote a letter to his freakish friends, telling them all about what proper people were capable of when they didn't lower themselves the way they did.

* * *

Harry walked with his Aunt and Uncle along with the rest of the tour group, following the redheaded woman- who he already knew was no Weasley, judging by her complete lack of interest in his scar- named Claire Dearing.

Harry couldn't help but feel terribly sorry for Claire, seeing as how his Aunt kept trying to contradict everything she said, accusing her of not knowing what she was talking about whenever Claire inevitability told her to stop. Vernon wasn't much better than his wife, telling Claire about how easy her job must be and how it's not real work, is it?

Harry would have actually feared for his relatives' lives had Claire not been so professional, not that he truly cared. Even if she did, he reasoned, that'd just mean he wouldn't have to live with them anymore.

Harry was just contemplating whether he'd do Claire a favor by helping her get away with it when they approached the next exhibition, Harry looking up to see it held something called a Titanoboa.

Looking into the reinforced glass case, Harry squinted his eyes in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the dinosaur, only half-listening as Claire gave a short speech on how engineers who had built this tank had worked tirelessly to reinforce the glass and metal until it was fit to properly hold the beast inside.

"The people behind Jurassic World stop at nothing to ensure the safety of our guests," Claire explained, "Going as far as to put our own lives on the line to keep our more exotic exhibitions in check."

"I'm sure it's amazing to know so many brave young men," Vernon said, most probably trying to be conversational, which was the saddest part. "Inspiring, really."

"Yes well, my niece does put a lot of work in," Claire said dryly, turning to answer another muggles question, with a bit more cheer in her voice.

Harry suddenly saw a log move, and in one terrifying yet exhilarating moment, he realized it wasn't a log!

"It's a giant snake, right?" A little girl asked, "Like really giant?"

Claire smiled. "Yep, he really is huge. The Titanoboa is one of our larger exhibits, growing to be over 40 feet long- that's 13 metres- it dwarfed the crocodiles of its time. The lizards were a regular food source for the beast."

"Snakes don't eat that much, do they?" Harry asked, adjusting his glasses.

"This one does," Claire replied, "Just not very often. One whole crocodile from the Ancient Cerrejon rainforest could fill his belly for an entire year."

Harry's eyebrows shot up, trying to imagine the equivalent to keep Dudley fed all year.

"He's boring," The boy in question moaned. "I wanna see the T-rex!"

Claire's lips thinned, "In due time, but we have more things to see first."

"But I wanna see the T-rex!" Dudley cried, "And I wanna see him NOW!"

Petunia tried to calm Dudley as he started to wail, though Harry noticed no actual tears left his eyes. Several of their fellow tourists shook their heads and pulled their children closer to them at the sight.

"Sweetheart it's-"

"I WANNA SEE HIM!" Dudley continued loudly, beating his mother away as he flailed his arms about.

"Oh just look what you've done!" Petunia shrieked at Claire, who wrinkled her nose in response.

Turning back to her child, Petunia cried, "Oh, Duddy-kins, of course, we'll see the T-rex next! Don't cry, mummy will have it all sorted out in no time at all."

Dudley brightened, as if his whole tantrum hadn't happened. Claire wasn't having any of it.

"I've already told you, we have other exhibitions to see before the tyrannosaurus," The redhead restated, her tone firm. "If you don't want to wait then you may leave the tour and find it yourselves."

Vernon's face turned purple, and Harry was worried for a second that he wasn't the one in danger of being murdered, "Now wait just a minute-"

"No," Claire firmly cut him off, gesturing towards the door, "You may go see the exhibitions in whatever order you like, but on your own time. The rest of these folks paid for this tour, and I'm not derailing it for the whims of your son. Now I'll ask you to all settle down and follow me-"

"You can't just talk to me like that!" Vernon shouted, spit flying. "I am a law-abiding citizen and demand respect."

"Respect is earned, Mr. Dursley," Claire replied crisply. "I haven't told you anything different than I'd tell any of the other guests. If you don't wish to follow the tour, leave."

A woman near the back shook her head, "Man, you have been nothing but rude this whole time, did you just forget your meds?"

Another tourist, who was a tall bald man, sighed. "Ms. Dearing do you think you could just.. Send them off? That boy's scaring my kid more than the giant snake."

"The mother is obviously the problem," An older woman huffed. "No self-restraint."

The comments kept pouring in and, completely independent from the Dinosaurs Harry saw that day, he could honestly say it might have been the greatest day of his life.

* * *

**A/N**

**House: Ravenclaw**

**Class: Care for Magical Creatures**

**Category: Standard**

**Prompt: Jurassic Park**

**Word count: 1,093**


End file.
